A short trip in Venice
by gottalovett
Summary: River is commanded by her captors to take a trip to Venice. How do she and Rosanna get on? And more importantly what does River find out. Speculation for both who River is and the overall silence series arc. Rosanna/River sex scene.


_This fic is dedicated to __**Grape **__who had her 21__st__ in May. Sorry about the delay but uni dumped a load of work on me and then I got sick. I hope you like this my fellow HBC fan. I love you long time k? Also anyone else who reads and reviews..._

* * *

><p>1.<p>

He was looking decidedly nervous. None of them liked having to come near her. "Too many bloody cock ups," their superior officer had complained, "what if every prisoner escaped whenever they liked... we'd be the laughing stock of the entire Nebulus Belt... if not beyond."

She'd smile secretively in the corner of her cell, letting the shadows line her face, making them even more uncomfortable. They would never be able to stop her. Not now. Not in the past, present or the not so distant future. She was River Song. She made her own rules.

2.

'It's the lipstick," complained the guard though he couldn't keep the whine out of his voice.

"Which is no excuse. You incompetents even know what she is using to escape and you still can't stop the bitch from getting away."

The guard looked down at the ground, stopped trying to argue. He knew the truth of course. He'd overheard a meeting one night. It was part of Doctor Song's prison sentence that she could be used for Storm Cage missions. The hallucegenic lipstick was just for show. How people like him hated conspiracies. And all to do with that mysterious alien creature. The last of his kind. A Time Lord. A Doctor.

His commander was looking at his watch. "Get back on watch, Arcan. Don't come to me with more of these idiotic grumblings. I've stopped listening. You ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?"

Arcan shrugged. It was a rhetorical question.

When Arcan left the room, the commander checked his watch again. Ten o'clock. Time to release River Song.

3.

"Commander," she smiled disarmingly. He rolled his eyes.

"You might spook the others, but you certainly don't spook me Doctor Song. You're the same as the others deep down. A common criminal. The only difference being, you got an opportunity to get out."

"If you say so."

"Are you packed for Venice?"

She raised one eyebrow. "The city of love? How unexpectedly transparent of you."

He clutched at the bars. "You know why we picked you. We're the ones in control."

"So what do you want me to do then?"

He looked thrown off. He hadn't expected her to accept the task so readily. Usually there was a fight first, a show of defiance. She didn't ask what it was for anymore. She accepted she might never ever know. It was enough to know that each release mission was a bit off her ludicrously long prison sentence. He never had mentioned to anyone but his fellow commander's that they were being paid for these little trips by another group. He didn't even know who they were. Always cloaked, always silent, always quick to leave, never ones for conversation. Just obsessed with the alien called The Doctor.

He smiled. Ironically, the very guy that had gotten River Song put in the Storm Cage in the first place; well he hadn't meant to do it, but that was where criminals along the Nebulus Belt all ended up in the end. She'd killed a good friend of The Doctor's. A human. What a joke! That little murder had messed up time and caused a paradox which had threatened entire species. A first rate disaster till The Doctor had fixed it up. Still, that was why River Song was so damned dangerous. The power and the audacity to mess with time and space and race, and part Time Lord or something to match. A very, very dangerous lady. Good thing she was under their tight control.

It was a real shame in its way. She was a real attractive lady with that man eating red lipstick. But she was a strange one. Always reading that blue notebook of hers and smiling triumphantly at nothing. His men had often asked him if she wasn't more than a little bit mad. He always shrugged. Who knew with long term prisoners?

She was smiling that irritatingly smug grin at him now. "What are you thinking, oh captain my captain?"

He knew how to play this game. "I'll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours."

She raised one eyebrow. Her eyes were a deep green that he could have drowned in given half the opportunity. "I don't think so."

"You keep your heart well and truly locked up, don't you Doctor Song. Or was it already lost long before you ever met me?"

She winced a little and he knew he had struck a chord. "Some fellow assassin no doubt, another cash for hire, another archaeologist who liked danger? Is he good at waiting, Song? He'll be waiting a long time. Do you dare put so much faith in him?"

The look on her face was fierce. "I'd trust that man with my life."

"Enough." He grew weary of the power play. "Get you to Venice, the city in Italy, Earth."

"Why?"

"We've had intelligence handed over to us that a sentient life form that is not human resides there, a lot of them. What other life forms do with their time is not our concern, but it is _his_."

He couldn't help but notice that her face lit up. "The Doctor. He's there?" he wondered if she still harboured a personal grudge against The Doctor. He certainly wouldn't blame her for it.

"Not yet. But it's almost certainly guaranteed that he will be. You've got a week. If he's not there by then leave a message." He smiled wolfishly. "Oh Doctor Song, some beings in space want this Time Lord badly... they'll do anything to get their hands on him, even if it means letting you go free..."

"How much?"

"This one's a chancy mission; it's not proven he'll come either way. Ten years."

"Ten years! Sometimes I wonder why I bother."

"Because ten is better than nothing and because you do what we want you to do."

_For now._

4.

Venice. city of romance, of passion, of dangerous liaisons. River Song was an archaeologist. She'd read about it all years ago as part of the training. She checked her gun wasn't peeping out beneath her dress. It never would have done to tell Commander Jesrin (though he was no commander over her that was for sure, whatever ridiculous lusty thoughts he might have) but she always did like to have an escape route. Two. Three if she was lucky. The truth was she could have escaped years ago but she needed to keep an eye on The Doctor. She didn't trust these mysterious hirelings at all. Sounded like a revenge vendetta if you asked her. Which no one did. More fool them.

She shook her head and winked at some market place men provocatively as they stared at her wild blonde hair and green eyes. She was an exotic in these parts. The local dress couldn't hide that. She tapped a girl who was walking geese past on the shoulder and the idiot girl gasped in fright when she turned around and saw River's strange face.

"Can you tell me the way to the school, young lady? I would be much obliged." She smiled and pulled a coin out of her bosom, where she had placed a small bag of the local currency.

The girl's dark face lit up when she saw the coin. "Just near the weaver's market Miss, straight ahead and to the right. You can't miss it. Not a big, imposing, grand looking place like that."

River pulled out a second coin. "And who might be the Lady who runs such a place?"

"Her name is the Lady Rosanna miss. Everyone knows her in these parts, though we don't often see her and the young ladies she trains. Very beautiful they are with their parasols and white lace."

"And how long has the Lady Rosanna lived here for?" She fished out another coin.

"Two years at most miss. Very well respected here miss, for her advice about the plague and the other city states. We keep ourselves to ourselves now thanks to her."

River nodded and let the girl go. The earrings she was wearing acted as a language translator. Time Lord technology of course. Very useful indeed.

5.

Boldness got you a long way. River had learnt that from a young age.

"I want to speak to Lady Rosanna. I have coin to pay my way."

The guard at the door was blank faced and even toned. "Can't be done. No one receives an audience unless they are applying to the school."

"I have the coin. How do I seek an audience?"

"You wish to be taught here? You are much too old surely."

"Too old? I'm gravely insulted."

"The Lady takes them while they are young, while they can still be taught. If you don't mind my saying so, you are too bold and arrogant to be taught here. Too set in your own ways. Even if you are very beautiful in your way."

"I'll take it as a compliment," River said sardonically. "Still, I must speak with her. I bear important news. A message."

"It can't be done." She marvelled at the lack of expression on his face, rolled her eyes and sidled closer. She pouted and his eyes glazed over slightly. Men were so predictable.

She leaned in. "Not even for a kiss?"

6.

She was bound to the chair. She had to let it happen. No point in shooting her way out and messing up the chance of a reduced sentence. Besides, River had always loved a challenge.

Rosanna was pacing the chair with a man bedecked in high necked finery, presumed to be the lady's son. Rosanna moved with a graceful sensuality, the opulence of her dress adding to the charm of the dark hair and heaving breasts and glittering headpiece. A very dangerous woman. Too much like River herself, if she wasn't mistaken.

"Hallucegenic lipstick." The lady laughed incredulously. "How positively medieval."

River smiled. "It worked didn't it."

Rosanna turned like a snake. "Silence. I did not ask for your opinion." She continued to circle. "What do you think of this one, Francesco**. **A worthy wife for my children?"

He bared his teeth and River couldn't help but let out a gasp at the sharp teeth. Like vampires.

"Interesting," she said aloud. "And what manner of alien are you? You don't belong here anymore than I do."

Rosanna's hand rose as if for a slap, but she paused, smiled instead. "It would be wise for you to tell us everything. Who are you? Who sent you?"

"My name is River Song and I am an archaeologist from the 51st century. I've been sent to warn you about someone."

Rosanna laughed. "Warn me? Who would threaten me here, on this planet? Not the humans surely," she sneered, "so weak and easily fooled. Don't lie to me girl."

River didn't bat an eyelid. "Not humans. Though I think perhaps you misjudge them." Certainly, her Doctor would have thought so.

"Who," the lady hissed. "Tell me."

"A Time Lord."

"Idiot girl. They are all dead."

"Wrong," River smiled provocatively. "And you accuse me of arrogance. One lived. His name is The Doctor."

"Even if I did believe you, why should he bother with me? The Time Lords maintained justice throughout space but they did not interfere unless it was necessary."

"Because he was alone, the very last of his kind and he was lonely. He sought companionship amongst humans, came to understand them. He values them far more than you can imagine."

There was a long silence. "Untie her," she said to her son, "but," she paused and licked her lips nervously, "I'll keep the gun."

"As you wish Mother." The ropes were off quick enough. Rosanna offered River a hand. "What is your name girl?"

"Amongst my people I am no girl, Lady, though depending on what manner of alien you are it might look that way to you. I'm a grown woman and my name is River Song. I've told you why I am here, and yet, you have not yet told me why you are."

Rosanna commanded as easily as if she were born to it. Maybe she had been. "Come. Walk with me."

7.

"We are a proud alien race." Rosanna pressed at her own side and the perception filter she was using flickered and went out. A tall creature with legs and long abdomen stood beside River. The stuff of nightmares, but River was not afraid. Very little surprised her, fazed her. It wasn't even bravery. It was sheer curiosity. Even as a child, River had wanted to know about other cultures, other races. She'd had relationships with them sometimes. The one thing she had never understood was the fear.

"Not afraid? Very interesting." The perception filter was back on.

"You still haven't said why you are here."

"It was the silence and the cracks. They ate up our home, our planet and there was nowhere else to go but here."

"Cracks? Silence?"

"They were cracks in time and they were caused by the silence. That is all I can tell you. I am the mother of my people River and so I will not let them die. This place can host us. We have a plan to survive and no one will stop us. Not even The Doctor."

"He will you know," River said quietly, "if he finds you, and he will eventually, he'll stop you."

"Not if I play upon his conscience, use every weapon I've got. Do you despise me?" Rosanna's brown eyes were staring into River's for understanding, and in that moment she felt sorry for the stranded alien. "Everyone does what they must to survive, River Song. We are all selfish creatures in the end. We do what we must to achieve our own ends, to achieve what suits us best."

River understood that perhaps better than anyone. There was compassion in her green eyes.

The lady smiled wearily. "Who sent you? Why would you warn me? There is something in this for you and so I cannot trust you."

"I was sent by those who have no love for The Doctor and his form of wondering justice and that is all I can tell you, for I know no more about it myself. They know he will come here, attracted like moth to a flame. My business partners want me to trap him and hand him over to those who have paid us. A revenge vendetta I can only imagine."

"I cannot allow you to summon him here, child, no matter how much I think I would like to help you."

"You don't need to. He will come of his own accord." And then River would be playing a very dangerous game. She would have to betray him to save him. Until she knew who was behind these assignments she could do nothing, but she would make sure she was free to help him out of whatever prison they tried to bind him in.

She was River Song. She made her own rules.

The Lady was smiling softly at her, questioningly. _Her own rules..._

8.

The Lady's bed was soft and comfortable. Her breath was hot on River's neck, her mouth sought River's own out.

"I like you River." She cupped River's breasts and squeezed as her body shined slick with sweat.

"As do I, lady, or I wouldn't be here in bed with you." River pushed her over so that she was sitting astride the lady, thighs squeezing tight.

"Such a razor sharp tongue. Wherever did you get it from? And it doesn't bother you that underneath this lovely exterior, I'm a completely different life form?"

River laughed, deep and sexy. "Not a bit. All of my life it's never bothered me. Why shouldn't I take pleasure where and when it's offered?"

"A wise philosophy."

River's fingers trailed down lazily resting against the older ladies thigh. "I'm interested in how you came to leave your planet. The silence- did they say anything to you."

Rosanna let out a sigh as River's fingers withdrew from inside her, wet and sticky, and trailed back up to her breasts. "It wasn't a they. The silence fell on our planet and everything died. I do not know who caused it to fall, a smothering blanket, but it did and everything changed."

"And you heard nothing, nothing at all?" River rolled to the side, frowning, her hand entangled in Rosanna's brown hair.

"There was one thing."

Those devilish green eyes lit up and made Rosanna smile.

"Tell me."

"It made no sense at all to me."

"Please."

"Just before silence fell we all heard the voice. Deep and unfathomable and terrible it was. 'Because of the companion, you must face the punishment, because of the red haired girl, this world will fall.' That was all."

River sucked the breath back into her body in shock and surprise. Not Amy? Surely not Amy? But who else could it mean. Whoever was behind the silence was after The Doctor, after a girl named Amelia Pond. _Or was Amy herself the silence's cause? No. It couldn't be. And yet perhaps it was._

"What is it? Does it mean something to you?"

River was frightened. It took a lot to scare her. "Perhaps."

They made love again to keep their separate fears at bay; hot mouth and tongues entwining, legs spread, fingers pleasuring each in turn, desire pouring like sweat, surely visible in the warm venetian air, in the city of romance.

9.

Two days passed. The Doctor never came. River didn't know if she was sad or relieved. She didn't tell Rosanna to go easy on The Doctor when he inevitably did come. She knew The Doctor could take care of himself. River only hoped that didn't do anything to make him angry. Her people wouldn't stand a chance.

Before she was transported back to the Storm Cage, she left a message; encrypted in old high Gallifreyan and left carved on a bit of rock near the entrance to the main market square. The Doctor would find it. If he ever came here.

_Hello sweetie. Silence will fall. Amy is in danger. Keep an eye on her Doctor. Please._


End file.
